Tuesday, August 11, 2009

An Impressive Garden

Yes, I wish the title, and picture, were referring to my own garden, but sadly, my garden didn't work out as I hoped. It turns out that my sneaking suspicion that my garden location didn't get enough sun was correct. Back in May, though, I wasn't willing to be deterred. My seeds had grown amazingly well in their little peat pots inside so I figured I just needed to nurture them to keep them growing outside. Sure, they were small, but summer is long. Right?

It all came to a crashing halt when I went to visit my mom's garden. I had seen what had been planted and was happy we would both have gardens this summer. Then two weeks passed and I visited again. Her corn was knee high (and it wasn't even close to the 4th of July), my boys each had their own pumpkins already picked out, her tomato plants were taller than me...

I faced facts and gave up on my garden. It really is all about location, location, location. Actually, it is more than that. My mom's garden seems to be amazingly successful because of location (great sun), soil (rich compost that was roto-tilled into the dirt), weather (26 days without rain in the Northwest ), water (because, of course, the plants do still need the water), and a lot of TLC. The corn plants are now twice my height, the tomato plants are so full I couldn't even get my arms around one of them, the pumpkins are already Halloween-sized, the peppers are beautiful (I always that the shine was wax - turns out it is natural), and the carrots are popping out of the ground.

I've given up being envious and am just enjoying my mom's success. I wanted my kids to have a garden this summer and now they have one. It wasn't in MY backyard like I had planned, but that's okay. I have squeezed a few peas and beans out of my own garden and my containers of tomatoes and basil are thriving. If my kids want to pick carrots and green peppers, they just have to go to Grandma and GrandDad's garden.





Oh, and back to the original goal... Do they eat more vegetables? Hmm... the jury is still out on that one. We did have a funny experience yesterday though. I had a bunch of freshly picked carrots that I left in the car for about another. When we returned to the car, my son's friend was the first to open the door and he said, "What's that smell?" Visions of a rotten apple under the seat popped into my head, but then my son hopped in and said, "It's carrots!" Now, I know my car has never smelled like carrots after a trip to the grocery store!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Erika. I can't believe my garden,either. Tune in next year to see what can grow in a typical summer in the Seattle area.

    Mom

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